Piranha 3DD

Piranha 3DD

Piranha 3DD is a 2012 horror-comedy film and sequel to the 2010 film Piranha 3D. It is directed by John Gulager from a screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. It stars Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner, Chris Zylka, Katrina Bowden, Gary Busey, Christopher Lloyd, and David Hasselhoff. Production began on April 27, 2011 with a release scheduled for November 23, 2011, but a month prior to release this date was revised to an unspecified 2012 date. The film was eventually released in the UK on May 11, 2012 and in the U.S. on June 1, 2012.

Piranha 3DD Plot

A year after the attack on Lake Victoria by prehistoric piranhas, an eradication campaign has left the lake uninhabitable by life, and the town itself has been largely abandoned as a result of the drying-up of their main revenue source, tourism.

At a nearby lake, Clayton (Gary Busey) and Mo (Clu Gulager), two farmers, walk into the water to recover the body of a dead cow. Piranha eggs laid inside the cow hatch, and the farmers are killed by the swarm.

Maddy (Danielle Panabaker), a marine biology student, returns home for the summer to the waterpark she co-owns. She finds to her horror that the other co-owner, her step-father Chet (David Koechner), plans to add an adult-themed section to the waterpark with ‘water-certified strippers’, and re-open it as “Big Wet.” At a party at the waterpark that night, Maddy encounters several old acquaintances, including her policeman ex-boyfriend Kyle (Chris Zylka), and Barry (Matt Bush) who has secretly had a crush on her since grade-school. She also runs into two of her close friends, Ashley (Meagan Tandy), and Shelby (Katrina Bowden).

Shelby and her boyfriend Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) go skinny-dipping in the lake, where a piranha makes its way inside her vagina. Meanwhile, Ashley and her boyfriend Travis (Paul James Jordan) make love in their van. They accidentally trip the handbrake, causing the van to roll into the lake, where they are both devoured.

The next day, Maddy is consoling Shelby about their missing friends. While sitting on a jetty, they are both attacked by the swarm of piranhas. They manage to kill one, and Maddy, Kyle and Barry bring it to Mr. Goodman (Christopher Lloyd) to examine. He informs them that the piranhas may be moving via sewage pipes and underground rivers between lakes. The trio return to the lake, where they establish that the piranhas cannot make their way into the outflow pipes connecting the lake and the waterpark.

While Shelby and Josh are having sex, the piranha in Shelby’s vagina bites Josh’s penis, forcing him to chop the organ off with a knife. Both are hospitalized. Kyle is revealed to be corrupt and taking pay-offs from Chet, who is secretly pumping water from an underground river into the waterpark.

“Big Wet” opens the next day. Among the first guests are Deputy Fallon (Ving Rhames), who survived his previous ordeal with the piranhas but lost his legs, and former cameraman Andrew Cunningham (Paul Scheer). While the duo attempts to overcome their fear of the water after they were attacked a year ago, David Hasselhoff also makes an appearance as a celebrity lifeguard.

Discovering the connection between the park and the underground river, Maddy attempts to shut the waterpark down, but is stopped by Chet and Kyle. The piranhas make their way to the area and attack, killing many of the lifeguards and waterpark-goers. Deputy Fallon attaches a shotgun prosthesis to his legs in order to save the visitors, while Hasselhoff, after rescuing a small boy named David, becomes pleased that he has finally become a real lifeguard. In the chaos, Chet is decapitated by a low-hanging cable after attempting to drive away and escape.

Barry begins to drain the pools; however Maddy, who is rescuing people from the water, becomes caught in the suction and dragged down to the bottom of the pool. After Kyle refuses to save her, Barry, despite being unable to swim, leaps down and brings her to the surface, where they kiss.

Another employee, Big Dave, pours gasoline into the pipes, followed by a lit joint. The resulting explosion kills most of the piranhas, while Kyle is killed by a falling trident. The celebrations are cut short however, when Maddy takes a phone call from a horrified Mr. Goodman, who informs them that the piranhas are evolving and are now able to move on land. The film ends as one such piranha emerges from the pool and decapitates David while recording it takes pictures of David’s body.

In a post-credits scene, Hasselhoff is running on a beach holding a trident, which is an advertisement for a movie, “Fishhunter.”

Piranha 3DD Cast

Danielle Panabaker as Maddy Matt Bush as Barry David Koechner as Chet Chris Zylka as Kyle Katrina Bowden as Shelby Gary Busey as Clayton Christopher Lloyd as Mr. Goodman David Hasselhoff as Himself

Returning cast includes Ving Rhames as Deputy Fallon (uncredited), and Paul Scheer as Andrew Cunningham. Scheer claimed to have spent only 36 hours filming his scenes, six in total, working almost exclusively with Rhames.[4] Other cast includes Meagan Tandy as Ashley, Jean-Luc Bilodeau as Josh, Clu Gulager as Mo, Paul James Jordan as Travis Mitchell, Adrian Martinez as Big Dave, Irina Voronina as Kiki, Sierra Fisk as Bethany, Rozlyn Papa as Dawn, Jenna Hurt as Rochelle, Cody Kennedy and Tabitha Taylor as Lifeguards (uncredited).

Piranha 3DD Production

In October 2010, Dimension Films announced that they had secured John Gulager to direct the film based on a script by Saw 3D-scribes Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Filming was intended to take place between January 17 and February 18 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a release date set for August 2011,[5] but this became impractical because of cold weather and the requirement for cast and crew to be wear little or no clothing.[6] In March 2011, production on the film was delayed and Joel Soisson was brought in to produce the film and rewrite the Dunstan-Melton script.[7]

Principal photography began in Wilmington, North Carolina on April 25, 2011,[8][9] with parts of filming occurring at Jungle Rapids water park and Shaw-Speaks community center. Soisson claimed that in choosing a shooting location he was looking for an “iconic America town” that “could be anywhere”. Soisson also indicated that tax rebates and the variety of geography in North Carolina had convinced them to choose the location over the alternative of Louisiana.[10]

Filming was completed on May 27, 2011 after 33 days[11] with three weeks of filming occurring at the Jungle Rapids water park.[12] The film was shot using 3D rigs, as opposed to converting the film to 3D in post-production.[13] Piranha 3DD is cinematographer Alexandre Lehmann’s first 3D film.[14] Devin C. Lussier and Martin Bernfeld were hired to edit the film.[15]

Piranha 3DD Release

The film was scheduled to be released on November 23, 2011,[16] but a several month delay in the commencement of filming meant the November deadline could not be met.[6] A month prior to the scheduled November release the date was pushed back to an unspecified 2012 date.[17] On March 3, 2012, it was announced that the film would be released simultaneously to theaters and through video on demand services.[18] On March 14, it was announced that the film would be released on June 1, 2012.[19] The movie was released on May 11, 2012 in the UK.[1]

Piranha 3DD Box Office

The film made very small impact on its debut weekend of release in the UK; its box receipts for the opening weekend were just £242,889, placing it at number 8. Low budget films that were not new releases such as Salmon Fishing in the Yemen reached number seven, one place above Piranha 3DD.[20] During its limited opening of 86 theaters in North America the film grossed $182,237.

Piranha 3DD Reception

Piranha 3DD has received very negative reviews, and currently holds a 12% approval rating and average rating of 3/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 reviews. The consensus states: “It strains to up the gore and self-awareness of its predecessor, and — despite some game celebrity cameos — the result is a dispiriting echo of 2010’s horror-comedy.”[21] It also has 24% on Metacritic, which is “generally unfavorable” on their rating system.[22] Leslie Felperin of Variety gave the film a negative review, stating, “[The movie] ups the self-parody so much that it’s practically a Wayans Brothers spoof, albeit with fewer jokes.”[23] Ben Rawson-Jones gave the film a scathing review with a rating of 1/5 stars, highly critical of the use of 3D and direction, despite his enjoyment of the original film.